Valve construction



Oct. 22, 1957 Filed April 8, 1955 R. E. FERGUSON 2,810,394

VALVE CONSTRUCTION 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR ROBERT E. FERGUSON BY 6 SW A'IToRNEm Oct 1957 R. E. FERGUSON 2,810,394

VALVE CONSTRUCTION INVENTOR Q ROBERT enasuson BY .smzzs'm ATTORNEYS v 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 R. E. FERGUSON VALVE CONSTRUCTION Oct. 22, 1957 Filed April 8, 1955 INVENTOR ROBERT E. FERGUSON 5W 5% W ATTORNEYS 2,810,394 VALVE CONSTRUCTION Robert Eugene Ferguson, Lufkin, Tex.

Application April 8, 1955, Serial No. 500,216

7 4 Claims. (Cl. 137-240) The present invention relates broadly to valves and more particularly to a valve construction especially designed to control flow of viscous liquids and for other such mixtures as solid, or semi-solid bearing fluids, such as pulp stock.

Heretofore, many types of valve structures have been utilized in the paper making industry, but none of these have proved entirely satisfactory. This is mainly due to the problems involved in the control of flow of a mixture of process water and pulp due to the viscosity of the material, and the tendency of pulp material to collect or lodge in feed lines against valve surfaces exposed to the mixture. When this occurs, the pulp stock collects and hardens in the valve casing, on the movable valve surfaces, and in other portions of the valve structure. Such pulp deposits ultimately tend to close completely a valve opening and thereby render the valve structure inoperable.

It has been found that in the various types of valves heretofore used for handling pulp or paper stock, which is fibrous and consists of process water and pulp, the fibrous material will not lubricate moving parts inside the valve, but instead will collect and gradually clog, thereby reducing the valve opening and causing improper proportions of material being fed to paper making machines. This drawback is especially prevalent with single gate type valves.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a valve particularly adapted for use in controlling flow of viscous liquids, such as pulp stock, and which will overcome the drawbacks of previously known constructions.

' Another object of the present invention is to provide a valve for controlling flow of pulp stock in paper making systems having a new and novel'construction'of gate members which prevent any tendency of the materials passing therethrough to clog or gradually close a valve opening.

- An additional object of the present invention is to provide a valve structure for controlling flow of pulp stock which incorporates means for introducing liquids into the valve constantly, or intermittently, to lubricate the valve gates and thereby to keep the valve free from hard or dead stock.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a valve structure having opposed valve gates with cutout portions therein which together form an adjustable square orifice, and in which means are provided for adjusting the area of the square orifice by means of a graduated indicator.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a'valve structure in which liquid is admitted through ports into the valve to soften hard pulp collected against the gates, and which pulp is movable in the port openings by a sharp edge of the gates, to thereby wash it into the line of flow thereby keeping a valve clean at all times. The square orifice of the present invention will not choke or fill with pulp stock as does an ordinary gate valve when partially opened. Pulp stock, by use of the present valve structure, can be' uniformly proportioned by a simple 2,810,394 Patented Oct. 22, 1957 "ice . .2 adjustment, and after such setting, the proportions will remain substantially uniform during long periods of run.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide a valve structure for regulating and controlling pulp stock utilizing overlapping valve gates which when extended outwardly from the center of the valve create an ever increasing square orifice for the passage of fluid therethrough. Filler plates are provided to take care of gap left bythe overlapping plates and packing is utilized to prevent leakage from the exterior of the plates. The valve opening of the present invention is adjustable by manipulation of the overlapping plates transversely, and each plate has a cut out at its inner end.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a valve structure which is simple in design and construction and which requires a minimum amount of maintenance.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention, when taken together with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the valve structure of the present invention shown interconnected into a pulp stock feed line;

Fig. 2 is'an elevational view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view showing means for controlling the orifice opening of the valve;

Fig. 4 is an internal view of the gate structure having a portion of the housing removed and showing the valve in closed position;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the valve in open position;

'Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view through the valve structure; and

Fig. 7 is an end elevational view of the valve structure and housing showing washing fluid inlet means for flushing of the valve structure.

'The gate structure is comprised of a body member formed of two complementary halves, 10 and 11, which can either be connected directly together by bolts or, as shown in the drawings, two flanged spools 12 and 13 are abutted thereagainst and the entire structure fastened together bymeans of bolts such as shown at 14. Packing glands-broadly indicated at 15 and 16 are provided at the ends of the body halves 10 and 11 and the packing glands are opposite each other when assembled. These packing glands can be secured to flanges'17 provided on the valve body by means of bolts or the like. As seen in Fig.;l of the drawings, for example, the outer ends of flanged spools 12 and 13 are in abutting and secure relationship with standard flanges 19 and 20 secured to ends of the pipe sections. The flanged spools normally constitute the face to face dimension of any standard valve. These flanged spools however, can be discarded and the valve fitted between two standard flanges in close places.

The packing glands 15 and 16, as shown in Fig. 6, are adapted to surround the gates, hereinafter to be described, on opposed sides thereof. For this purpose the packing glands can be made in two halves and due to their construction can be changed without dismantling the entire valve.

Two sliding gates are mounted between the body halves 10 and 11 in face to face and slidable relationship with respect to one another in guides provided for that purpose. These gates 21 and 22 have 90 shaped cuts in their inner ends at 23 and 24. On the outer ends of the plates holes 25 are provided to which are secured gate lugs 26 by means of bolts 27. A right hand double four pitch thread screw 28 is attached to gate 22 by means of gate lug 26. A left handdouble four pitch thread screw 29 is attached to gate 21 by means of g'a te lugz fi' Packing material is inserted in the openings formed in packing glands 15 and 16 on either side of the gates 21. and 22. A filler. plate 31 is secured to each of the body halves 10 and 11, by means" of" screws 32, or the like, as more clearly shown in Fig. 4. of. the. drawings. The gates 21 and 22 are of such a length that, when in fully inserted or closed position, as shown in Fig. 4, there is a space left between the inner ends of the gates and the packing material in the openings 30. The filler plates 31 are inserted in these spaces, and have their outer ends 33bevelled as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, to squeeze the packing against the gates to prevent leaking. The inner ends 34 of the filler plates are contoured to correspond with the inlet. and outlet openings of the. valve body. The inner corners 35 of the filler plates are preferably cut at 65 angles, although. any other desired angle can be used, toform wash-out ports 36in conjunction with the cut-out portions at the inner ends of the gates 21 and 22. As will appear hereinafter, means are provided for introducing a fluid to these wash-out ports 36 at the closing position of the gates, to flush out stock should it become packed ahead of the gates, thus eliminating the necessity of removing a valve from a line for cleaning.

As can be seenby reference to Figs. 4 and 5, the. two

gates 21 and 22 are so disposed as to be moved in op posite directions with respect to one another. As the gates are moved outwardly from the body, the 90 shaped cuts in their inner ends as at 23 and 24, co-act with one another to at all times form a perfectly square flow opening through the two gates.

In order to provide for this adjustment of the gates a common drive means is utilized. Secured to the outer ends oftthe valve body are yokes 37 and 38affixedthereto by means of bolts such as at 18. The outer ends of the yokes carry nut assemblies such as at 39 and 40. The nut assembly 39 is threaded right hand, and the nut assembly 40 is threaded left hand. These two nut assemblies are double threaded and grooved, and preferably have a hole drilled through the wall for greasing the outside of the nut sleeve and the screws 28 and 29. Sprockets 41 and 42 are keyed onto the nut assemblies. The sprockets are held in place by means of nuts 43 and 44. Arms 45 and 46 are supported from the yokes 37 and 38. A shaft 47 is rotatably journalled in bearings carried by arms 45 and 46. The shaft 47 is maintained in place by means of collars 48 and 49. Two sprockets 5.0. and 51 are carried by shaft 47 at the outer sides of arms 45' and 46.

Adjustable sprockets 52 and 53 are mounted on adjustable bars 54 and their positions can be varied in order to maintain driving sprocket chains tight. Chains 55 and 56 are entrained around the sprockets carried on the shafts 28, 29 and 47 as shown in Fig. 3. The sprocket 52 is arranged externally and can be moved to adjust the tension of the individual sprocket chains.

At one end of shaft 47, a hand wheel 57 is secured. Upon rotation of hand wheel 57, and shaft 47, the various sprockets'by means of the sprocket chains 55 and 56 will cause rotation of the nut assemblies 39 and 40. Thereupon the threaded shafts 28 and 29 will be moved inwardly or outwardly depending upon the direction of rotation ofthe hand wheel 57. Since the gates 21 and 22 are movable with the shafts 28 and 29, the square flowopeningcan therefore be adjusted as desired.

In order to determine the position of the gates, graduated indicators 58 and 59 are used. The graduations are so: arranged that when the gates are moved to position 1 for example, the opening is one inch square; at'position 2 the opening will be two inches square, and so on to the maximum diameter of a valve. Additionally, fractional lines are used on the indicator to show fractional openings of the gates. Each. of the gates carriesv a pointer as. at 60 n 61 f r coas ng wi h th graduat d ind tors 58' and 59.

In Fig. 7, of the drawings, means are shown for introducing fluid such as water and other liquids into the wash-out ports 36, and to control the flow of the same. A lead-in pipe 62 has incorporated therein a control valve 63. Leading from the control valve 63 are a plurality of conduits 64 and 65 which have take-oft leads such as at 66. These take-off leads are interconnected with ports 67 and 68 leading into each side of the valve casing and exhausting into the wash-out ports 36. While the valve shown in the drawings is to be operated manually, means could be included for continual introduction of the fluid or, on the contrary, at desired time intervals.

While manual control means for adjusting the opening of the valve gates has been shown, it is possible to utilize the same structure with a motor gear speed changing unit running continually and turning shaft 47 by means .of aratchet and fork at the end 69. The fork, for example, could be moved by a float in a cylinder-shaped pot containing stock from the system, or by electronic control systems.

Operation of the present invention will be apparent from the foregoing description. The square orifice which is provided, in conjunction with the wash-out ports, insures that uniformity of pulp stock can be obtained by setting the valves in an overall system. Water or processing liquids can be introduced in the valves through the ports to lubricate the valve gates and to keep the valve free from hard or dead stock. If the valve is open, pulp stock. will definitely collect and pack in gateways ahead ofa gate, causing the valve to become inoperative, but as water or liquids are admitted through the ports, the hard pulp is softened and moved in the port openings by the sharp edge of the gate and thereafter is washed into the line of flow. The valve accordingly will be kept clean at all times. The square orifice will not choke or fill with pulp stock as does an oridinary gate valve when partially open.

Manifestly, changes in details of construction will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

I claim:

1. A valve structure comprising a valve body having inlet and outlet openings, two opposed, self-cleaning and slidable valve gates in said valve body in overlapping contasting relationship, each said gate having a right angle shaped cut-out in the inner end thereof, said cut-outs coacting to form a variable size square flow opening in said valve body, said opening being closable and variable in size upon sliding of said gates outwardly in opposite directions, filler plates fixed in said body between inlet and outlet openings adjacent theinner ends of each said gate, the inner ends of said filler plates being cut at an angle with respect to adjacent slidable gate inner'ends diverging therefrom, forming wash-out ports between the inner ends of said gates and said filler plates.

2. A valve structure comprising inlet and outlet port conduits, two gates slidably mounted in overlapping relation between said conduits, said gates being face to face and each having inner end acute angle, shaped cut-outs, said cut-outs coacting upon sliding of said gates to form a: variable sizesquare-flow opening between the conduits, two filler plates fixed between the said conduits at an outer extremity thereof, each said filler plate being co planar with a corresponding gate, the inner end of each filler plate being configured at a divergent angle from its corresponding gate forming a wash-out port with the corresponding gate when said gate is closed.

3. A valve structure as claimed in claim 2, packing glands in the outer ends of said conduit on each side of said gates, the outer ends of said filler plates being bevelled and causing packing to squeeze said gates to pre vent leakage.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Miles Nov. 12, 1872 Woodward May 23, 1893 Sliger Oct. 29, 1912 6 Balg Aug. 26, 1913 Cooper Mar. 22, 1921 Hessemer Nov. 20, 1928 Gant Jan. 13, 1931 Linderman Aug. 29, 1933 Pigott Jan. 1, 1935 Hopkins May 23, 1944 Hill June 27, 1950 Mellett Jan. 29, 1952 

